Conventional post-mix beverage dispensers generally mix streams of syrup, concentrate, sweetener, bonus flavors, other types of flavoring, and other ingredients with water or other types of diluents. Preferably, the beverage dispenser may provide as many types and flavors of beverages as may be possible in a footprint that may be as small as possible. Recent improvements in beverage dispensing technology have focused on the use of micro-ingredients. With micro-ingredients, the traditional beverage bases may be separated into a number of constituent parts at much higher dilution or reconstitution ratios. A beverage dispenser using micro-ingredients thus may provide the customer with many more beverage options as compared to a conventional beverage dispenser.
Depending upon the intended location for the beverage dispenser and/or other considerations, some or all of the fluids used in the beverage dispenser may be stored at a distance from the beverage dispenser and/or from the dispensing nozzle. For example, the sweetener may be stored in a conventional bag-in-box at a distance from the beverage dispenser. The flow of sweetener and/or other types of fluids may pass through a chiller that is remote from the beverage dispenser and/or the dispensing nozzle so as to keep the fluids chilled.
Although the remote chiller may chill the flow of sweetener and/or other fluids to the appropriate temperature, the flow of sweetener and/or other fluids in the conduits between the remote chiller and the beverage dispenser may, over periods of inactivity, warm to an undesirable temperature. As a result, the first several beverages after such a period of inactivity may be unacceptable to the consumer as the warmer fluids are dispensed.